81-1228. Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act:

(1) Department means the Department of Economic Development;

(2) Director means the Director of Economic Development;

(3) Eligible activities of a nonprofit development organization means:

(a) New construction of owner-occupied or rental housing in a community with demonstrated workforce housing needs;

(b) Substantial repair or rehabilitation of dilapidated housing stock; or

(c) Upper-story housing development;

(4) HOME funds means funds awarded as formula grants under the HOME Investment Partnerships Program administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(5) Matching funds means dollars contributed by individuals, businesses, foundations, local and regional political subdivisions, or other nonprofit organizations to a workforce housing investment fund administered by a nonprofit development organization;

(6) Nonprofit development organization means a regional or statewide nonprofit development organization approved by the director;

(7) Qualified activities include, but are not limited to, purchase and rental guarantees, loan guarantees, loan participations, and other credit enhancements or any other form of assistance designed to reduce the cost of workforce housing related to eligible activities of the nonprofit development organization;

(8) Qualified investment means a cash investment in a workforce housing investment fund administered by a nonprofit development organization;

(9) Rural community means any municipality in a county with a population of fewer than one hundred thousand inhabitants as determined by the most recent federal decennial census;

(10) Workforce housing means:

(a) Housing that meets the needs of today's working families;

(b) Housing that is attractive to new residents considering relocation to a rural community;

(c) Owner-occupied housing units that cost not more than two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars to construct or rental housing units that cost not more than two hundred thousand dollars per unit to construct. For purposes of this subdivision (c), housing unit costs shall be updated annually by the department based upon the most recent increase or decrease in the Producer Price Index for all commodities, published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics;

(d) Owner-occupied and rental housing units for which the cost to substantially rehabilitate exceeds fifty percent of a unit's assessed value;

(e) Upper-story housing; and

(f) Housing that does not receive federal or state low-income housing tax credits, community development block grants, HOME funds, or funds from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund; and

(11) Workforce housing investment fund means a fund that has been created by a nonprofit development organization and certified by the director to encourage development of workforce housing in rural communities.

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